May 5, 2017

Banana, Herb or Fruit

The banana plant is a hybrid, originating from the mismatched
pairing of two South Asian wild plant species. Every Cavendish
banana, the most widely known in the world, is genetically
identical.

They are cultivated
from cuttings under the ground. A banana (the yellow thing you
peel and eat) is a fruit, containing the seeds of the plant.
However, commercially grown banana plants are sterile and the
seeds are reduced to little specks. The banana plant is called a
'banana tree' in popular use, but it is technically regarded as
a herbaceous plant or herb, not a tree, because the stem does
not contain true woody tissue.